The Bigger Picture
by Dorkasaurus Rexx
Summary: Miranda had always thought of humanity before all others, the perfect Cerberus agent. Now surrounded by many aliens she doubts herself. The assassin with a heart asks her a question hoping for an honest answer and in return, he gives her hope.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own Mass Effect 1 or 2 or the characters

associated with the series. I do however own this

work of fiction – please do not steal C:

* * *

Miranda was sitting in front of her computer in her office, lately she had spent a lot of time going over files, humoring herself with the idea that Cerberus wasn't as xenophobic as it had made itself out to be in the beginning. Since Shepard had gone out of her way to recruit people who were not human and had no connection with Cerberus, Miranda found herself in an odd place. Even with her upgrades, with her genetic engineering, she was still just a human, nothing more, nothing less. Miranda had started out like many people, joining Cerberus because she believed in what they were doing; she put her heart into this organization because it was all she had. Shepard had come close to pulling that out of her many times.

The latest mission realized that Shepard didn't only care about the mission – about humanity or the galaxy, she cared about _them_, her crewmembers. She treated them like family and that confused Miranda, no, it didn't confuse her it just, put her in an awkward position, an awkward place where she found herself lost in her thoughts. What was she really doing here on the Normandy? At the beginning she would have had a simple answer: 'To save humanity,' but now that reason was the last thing she'd say. Shepard had changed her, but the _change_ is what confused her. Miranda had always thought of herself as impenetrable, better than most others because she was built to be that way, and now, she realized that genetic manipulation wasn't all it took to make a person great.

Shepard had a fire she did not. Shepard had pressured Miranda to talk to her sister and though Miranda was grateful, at the same time she was jealous of the Commander. No one else would have been able to convince Miranda that making a connection with her sister would be the best thing. "Humph, jealous?" She murmured aloud before leaning back in her chair, a hand on her forehead and her ethereal blue eyes closed, this mission had filled her with emotions and thoughts she had never experienced before, emotions she had long parted herself from, denied herself because she thought in facts and sequences, she never took into account personality and actions, all that mattered was biology – genetics. Maybe she wasn't perfect; physically she was, but mentally… "Not so much,"

Opening her eyes she noticed the assassin – Thane Krios leaning against the wall next to the door to her office, she hadn't heard him come in, but that was his specialty, going unnoticed. "How long have you been standing there?" She asked, her eyes narrowed. He wasn't her favorite alien in the entire galaxy, she was having a hard time adjusting to being around so many different people, Grunt and Jack being her least favorite, and she hadn't had much time to figure out Thane.

He blinked his large eyes and then pushed himself off the wall, walking towards the chair across from her, "A few minutes," An honest reply but it unsettled her. She stood up, avoiding his gaze; she approached the window that let her see out into the space that surrounded the Normandy. Miranda's room was ideal for her, it provided her with a safety net as well as a place to think and breathe without having to actually _talk_ to anyone. "I wanted to ask you a question," Miranda looked at him, a brow rose just slightly before she nodded her head, giving him permission to ask. "Why is Cerberus accepting help?"

That was a question she could not answer, or rather it was a question to which there was no easy and simple answer. "Shepard," Miranda started, her eyes closed looking for the proper words, "Shepard had a team before this one, she has built an astonishing career on doing the impossible, going places no one else has, and she did that with a well rounded group of _people_, individuals with different backgrounds, different perspectives and she respects each and every one of her crewmates," She hesitated before rubbing her chin, "She works better with a wide range of individuals, it has nothing to do with Cerberus or our preferences for who is on the mission but all about what makes Shepard more effective in the field," It was a blunt answer, one that Miranda would stick by to her death, but she was slightly ashamed at it, Cerberus wouldn't have thought twice about sending a completely human team on this suicide mission in any other circumstances.

Doubts, once more. They seemed to be coming at her from all directions, making her doubt her allegiances, her own decisions, she wanted to be apart of something meaningful to her own people, her own kind. All other races had some sort of secret agency looking out for their own interests, why should humanity have a secret force like that? Cerberus was that force, but still, somehow, Miranda was slowly losing confidence in what she had been doing. Perhaps she had been on the wrong path the entire time. Shepard had opened her eyes to a world beyond her own, beyond Cerberus. One with trust and loyalty. Before she had been an individual among many in Cerberus, never knowing who was going to be with you on the next assignment, who was actually trustworthy and who was a traitor. Here, on the Normandy though, Miranda could trust that any one of them would watch her back. She had been extremely suspicious of many of the new crewmembers at first, but, Shepard was an inspiration, her willingness to trust them instantly made Miranda realize that Shepard was the ideal human, she was considerate, kind, giving, selfless, she'd die for anyone on this ship willingly.

"If Shepard were not here, I wouldn't be either, correct?"

"Correct," She murmured softly, shifting where she stood, Miranda looked at him again, "However I do not believe we would have been nearly as prepared as we are with only human help," He seemed to melt into the wall, his own eyes were closed and Miranda found herself strangely aware of his breathing, "Mind if I ask you a question?"

Thane nodded his head, his eyes opened and he moved towards the seat near her desk, "Go ahead,"

"Why me?" Was at first all it was, but she discovered that wasn't _really_ a question, just a fraction of a question, "I mean, of all the people on the ship why ask me?" Shepard would have been happy to answer such a question, Jacob as well, _anyone_. Miranda was one of the more withdrawn members of the crew, she hated meaningless interactions and pointless conversations, and yet someone who she would have spat on only a few weeks before had come out of his way to ask _her_.

Thane put his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers, his eyes closed, his lips completely motionless for a long minute, "You were the only one who I knew that would answer me honestly," His head moved slightly to the right, Miranda sat down across from him, her blue eyes betraying her usual demeanor, confusion flooded them, Thane seemed to notice that and he explained further, "Shepard would have told me that she was the one who picked me out of the Dossiers, Jacob would have told me that Cerberus wanted to branch out beyond humanity, Garrus would have told me some story about the old Normandy and how this is the _only_ way the Normandy works," It sounded as though he had already asked them, Thane let out a light sigh, as if a burden had been lifted, "Cerberus isn't what I thought it was," He admitted, Miranda nodded her head.

"It seems as though you have already talked to the others,"

"I admittedly did," Thane replied, it was a simple and short response, but he didn't seem to feel the need to say much more, another silence engulfed the two teammates before Thane broke it once more, "I was tired of them dodging the honest answer, I wanted to know the truth and they were all afraid to admit that," Miranda's lips closed in a hard line as she thought of that statement, they were afraid to admit Cerberus hadn't changed as much as they pretended, and it hadn't, none of these people, Garrus, Mordin, Thane, Samara, _all of them_, none of them were actual members of Cerberus. "Thank you for your honesty,"

He stood up and began walking away, "Cerberus hasn't changed at all, it's only manipulating its boundaries so Shepard is more comfortable working with us," He stopped half way out the door and turned his head.

"Do you believe that is the right thing to do? Are the changes for better or for worse?" He asked, it was a blunt question, going straight to where her heart lies. Thane didn't wait for a response, "I think it is for the better, I believe that by going on this mission I will make a difference in this universe that will be worth the paper it's written on years from now," Miranda had nearly forgotten Thane was dying and making every attempt to atone for his sins on their journey, "We're not just saving humanity, Miranda, Cerberus may have that as their main goal but there is a bigger picture," He finally started moving again and as he walked away he finished, "Cerberus could be something great for the galaxy, not just humanity,"

He was gone, and left Miranda alone in her office, the door closed perfectly behind him. Thane had a brilliant way with making Miranda really think about her actions, reevaluating her life and how she spent so much time working just for humanity when she could be a hero like Shepard, working for all the right reason with the right motivations, and without ulterior motives. Miranda doubted that she'd ever leave Cerberus, and she sure as hell wasn't humanitarian of the year, perhaps she could make a slow change in the organization and better it. Miranda smiled, Thane had managed to give her unrealistic ideals, perhaps even some hope. "Thank you," She said to the empty room.


End file.
